Murder on the Thames
by hanuka
Summary: Barbara and Tommy get two very odd murders. The murders start to intersect into their lives as do their feelings.Rated T for later chapters. Please rate and comment.
1. Chapter 1

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley awoke to the annoying chirp of his cell phone. He looked at the number and saw that the number was Havers, he picked up. "Hello, Havers new case?" "Yes sir it looks like a murder-suicide but they still want us to investigate. Um, Sir are you alright? You don't sound very well." Lynley smiled a little, worrying about him, he loved hearing her voice it calmed his feelings and fears about everything that had been happening in his life"Havers I'm just fine, just a little tired I'll be there soon. What's the address?"

Havers closed her cell phone and closed her eyes and paused. She felt soothed hearing her voice it distracted her from the bodies she would have to go look at in a minute. She hoped that he hadn't noticed the breathlessness in her voice. She had been worrying about him after Helen had left, he had seemed sadder, but hearing his voice she felt like she would go mad with desire! Shaking her head, she looked up and decided to go see Lafferty about the body."Lafferty what have we got?"Multiple stab wounds on the woman, on the man there's a bullet wound on the right side of his head and all of his fingers are broken, pre -mortem ." "Torture?" " 'fraid so."At this point Lynley's Bristol pulled up to the scene. Havers went over filled him in and handed him tea."Were they murdered together?" Lynley said "Well we won't know until the autopsy comes back, but Lafferty seems to think that they weren't murdered together." "Any ID"s" "None that we can find" They started looking around the scene, Havers watched him while listening to his observations all the while she looked for signs of hurt or pain in him. She hoped he would talk to her just to let her know something anything!

"You see the woman was killed earlier, eight hours earlier to be exact. The man has only been dead for three hours. The woman's wounds seem to be consistent with being stabbed with a kitchen knife, but that's not what killed her she was overdosed with barbiturates. The man's cause of death was the execution style of death, the gunshot wound. The broken fingers are a result of being tortured."Lynley looked over to Havers she looked like she was about to be sick. He didn't really know what to say to her without her contradicting him and then become annoyed with him. Lafferty started talking again and unexpectedly she left. She didn't come back to the autopsy room when Lynley came out he found her at her desk." Barbara are you alright?" she looked up and said"Yeah sir I just felt a little sick, we haven't gotten this gruesome a murder in a while." "Yes your right it's very strange two bodies killed at different times and dumped together, obviously this is a very strange coincidence or someone is looking for something." Winston walked in at this point and said "Okay we canvassed the area and interviewed people who lived nearby we found a woman who lives in the area who said she might know one of the victims." Havers and Lynley just looked at him and at the same time they said "Well what's her name? Bring her in!"

The woman's name was Lucy Shane she was young, blond, 20ish, and very nervous. She viewed both bodies she was able to ID the woman. The woman's name was Amber DeLaMona. Havers asked her in the interview room " what was your relationship with the victim?" "Amber was my roommate, we were best friends we did everything together." "Did she have any relationships? Was she worried about anything? Money, a boyfriend maybe?" "No she didn't nothing like that she was very quiet, very involved in charity.""What kind of charities?""Oh Meals on Wheels and The Disadvantaged Children's Fund." "Thank you for your time, oh and one more question." Havers pulled out the photo of the man "Do you recognize this man?" Lucy flinched "No this isn't the kind of person she would associate with."

So it was on to their only lead the charities. First they visited Meals on Wheels; Lynley looked out of place at a shabby charity. He stuck out like chocolate in a can of sardines. Havers watched him as they waited for Amber's boss. After what seemed like hours, a man finally came up to them, Havers almost laughed. The man was ridiculously short! He was also dressed like a Vicar. Havers almost swallowed her tongue trying not to laugh." Yes, Amber was with us for a long time, she was very giving, very loving. But she was very private we didn't see her in a relationship with anyone if she was we never saw him" "Thank you" said Havers "Do you remember anything about the last time you saw her?" "Yes, she seemed haggard, tired she kept looking at the watch, she left very early as well around two maybe.""Okay thanks." Lynley and Havers left confused and with useless information.

Barbara sat on her couch going through what she had learned about the new case that day. She had not learned much, she ran her fingers through her hair. She was tired she lit a cigarette, when she smoked she felt that she thought better and could think things through. As she inhaled the smoke she thought how, could two people unknown to each other die together in the same place?"Things aren't adding up." She thought "There's no way the two would have known each other, unless it was the secret boyfriend. But no one seems to have seen him and we don't have an ID on him." She thought of calling Winston to see if he had found anything. Somehow she didn't think he had come up with anything either, the person she really wants to talk to is Lynley his voice always calmed her when she was angry or upset. She picked up her cell and typed in his number. He picked up on the first ring."Hello" he said in his clear distinct upperclass accent."Um, Sir I wanted to talk about the case it doesn't make sense, I thought...well want do you think?" "No it doesn't make sense its very baffeling, I think unless we find something in missing persons we won't have any more leads." Havers thought for a minute"Who would do these things to people, it's, well I mean the cases before haven't been as strange since the one we had with the House of Lords. I think I'm just getting used to it I guess" Lynley gritted his teeth on the other end he didn't like to remember because he had not been able to solve it." I know but let's just see what we can find in the morning it's too early to decide how the murder happened. Let's just wait and see what we learn okay Barbara." "Yes alright 'night Sir" "Goodnight Barbara"

Lynley shut off his mobile in his car; he looked towards Barbara's apartment and watched as she turned off the light and moved out of view of her living room. He didn't consider it stalking he had been worried since she had decided to date again, he was only worried, she of course would date the most unsavory people. It wasn't jealousy that was motivating him to watch her. He would never admit it to himself but he secretly enjoyed watching her, it made him feel closer to her. He wonders if she thinks about him after work as more than just a coworker more than just a friend. He smiled and shook himself out of fantasy; he knew that would never happen. He started up the Bristol and headed for home.


	2. Chapter 2

DI Lynley was greeted the next morning by the sound of a thousand telephones ringing in the New Scotland Yard building. He searched for Barbara or Winston Nkata, he found Barbara first she was talking into the phone on her desk "Yes, okay , um if you'll just come to the station we'll be able to give you the things we found, yes thank you at three um yeah that's fine" She put the phone down "Morning Sir I got your coffee" She handed a blistering hot paper cup to him. "That was Amber's mother she's come to see the body and collect her possessions." Lynley stared at her for a minute and replied slowly"But Barbara, wait I'm sorry Havers excuse me she can't have the possessions until forensics have gone through then and that department is completely swamped." "Sir I told her I wanted to see if she could come see the body y'know get a second identification but she kept asking if she had any possessions on her, so I told her yes she could come look. We have to meet her at three"

Standing in the waiting room of the New Scotland Yard building waiting for Amber's mother to show up, Lynley eyes wandered around the room. His gaze ran down Havers profile, God was she curvy he loved looking at her it eased his mind to watch her. If she noticed what he was doing she didn't say she was secretly reveling in it. "Excuse me!"Lynley snapped his gaze from Barbara's body and looked at the woman in front of him "Excuse me." The woman said again"Yes" Lynley replied would you happen to be Amber DeLaMona's mother?" "Yes, please show me my daughter."

They led the woman to the autopsy viewing room when the sheet was pulled back on Amber DeLaMona the woman who was supposed to be her mother screamed and fainted. When they were able to revive her Havers asked" what happened? I'm sorry for your loss But-" The woman cut in "You don't understand that's not my daughter my daughter went missing when she was one the officer who investigated assumed she had been kidnapped and sold I thought when you called you found her .But it's not her she's not my daughter!" Lynley and Havers eye met in complete and utter shock."

"Okay what do we know now?" Lynley asked Havers provided the answer "We know our victim is not is who she is, so all we have now is two unidentified bodies and were back at square one" "Winston, run the woman's photo along with the man's in the database call me if you come up with something!" Lynley barked "Havers come with me we need to bring our victim's friend back in" At Lucy Shane flat they knocked and Lucy opened the door"Yes, did you find Lucy's killer?" "No we've come to tell you something" Lynley answered shortly. In her flat they sat down and Havers broke the news "Your friend Amber was not Amber at all that was just an identity she stole, now if you knew who she was truly was know would be the time to tell us, this has caused the real Amber's family a lot of grief and false hope." Lucy looked at the two of them and she scowled her voice was harsh and angry "Even if I knew who Amber truly was which I don't I wouldn't bloody likely tell you lot! Now get out of my flat and leave me in peace"

"Do you think she knows anything?" Havers asked"Possibly" Lynley replied "When we get more evidence we'll bring her in." As they drove back to the Yard they got waylaid in traffic. Lynley became frustrated and ran his fingers through his hair which just messed its coiffed look Barbara reached over and pushed a couple of his stray hairs behind his ear. She smiled at him and said "You look like a mess otherwise." He smiled back and said "Thank you Havers I shall now appointment you to the position as my personal groomer." He turned back to the road as traffic moved again. They did not say anything further but both enjoyed the secret intimacy between them.


	3. Chapter 3

"Amber truly had reason to hide" boomed Winston Nkata "She was a fugitive, a domestic terrorist she's wanted in a case from six years ago." Lynley breathed a sigh of relief; finally something in the case was going forward "What's her name Winston?" Barbara asked "Name is Mary Lewiston" Nkata replied. The man they found out did not exist in any of the Scotland Yard's databases so Nkata would run him through international databases, Lynley then instructed him to search Lucy Shane after much arguing and complaining on Nkata's part both Lynley and Barbara managed to convinced him to run the searches.

Lucy Shane stomped around her apartment gathering up papers and files. This was just great Mary was dead, and this was just going to blow up in her face, all the work that had been carefully compiled and recorded for six Godamn fucking months! Now the Met was getting involved. What to do? What to do? She needed to get those two cops off of her especially the upper class one she had no idea what connections he could have. She needed to hide all the evidence before they got a search warrant! Lucy didn't want to admit it, but she needed help. She got her cell phone out and punched in a number._ He_ picked up on the first ring "Hello" came the gruff voice Lucy sighed and said "John I need you to hide the evidence until further notice." there was a pause "Alright Lucy bring it on over." Lucy smiled.

Barbara Havers desperately wanted a smoke; she and Lynley were staring at the white board where they kept track of the case's progress. They were both silent until Lynley said" I think being a fugitive Mary/Amber would need funds therefore she would need associates or she might have turned to illegal activities again which is where Lucy might come in." Barbara thought about this yes it did seem likely that Lucy did something or knew something certainly her response when they talked to her last was suspicious, but she didn't think she was trying to hide anything. Maybe she just wanted to protect her friend, and who was the guy that had been with Mary/Amber had they been meeting for a roll in the leaves. "Sir, maybe it's not Lucy Shane" he turned to her and gave her the look that she knew meant he was listening closely" Maybe she was part of something larger like maybe made of her friends or whatever, because sir Lucy doesn't seem likely she was a friend of the victim. She may want to protect her friend's memory." Lynley seemed to be mulling it over "That's an interesting theory but we don't have any evidence so far for either of our theories." At this point Winston came over with some papers and was hopefully going to give them a lead" I ran the man's photo through our databases and international databases I got a hit in America the man's an FBI agent from New York name's Nick Constole and I think you'll find this interesting Lucy Shane has a birth date but she doesn't exist here until about two years ago." Lynley took the papers from Winston "Thanks Winston, I think we have good reason now to bring in Lucy Shane, Barbara bring her in. Winston contacts the New York FBI offices try to find out what he was here for get any and all information you can." Barbara looked at him she always admired him when he took charge to get a case solved when he looked at her again she shyly looked down her long red hair falling over her face. Barbara almost fainted when she heard what he said next" Barbara would you like to go to dinner tonight?" Barbara managed to stammer "Yes sir." Before she would have pretended not to notice but now she flushed a bright shade of scarlet.

Lynley watched Lucy through the observation room glass she was looking down her hands were beneath the table in the room. "Barbara what do you think of her?" Barbara looked up from the papers Nkata had given them and stared at the woman,"Hm"then she smirked "Are your skills with women failing you at this time." He smiled still facing the glass "No Barbara not at all I daresay they are working perfectly right now. But what do you think of her" Barbara thought for a moment"To me she seems ordinary like she was middle class I guess but she is a very close friend of Mary/Amber, and…" she seemed to be thinking "She seems to loathe you, oh well no one ever likes the coppers." He didn't look at her his face had fallen a little. Barbara didn't think he was upset but she thought her assessment of Lucy might have hurt him, he changed the subject quickly "Barbara about dinner where would like to eat, I mean if we can leave today after this interview, I mean where would you want to go?"He was nervous and it was very cute for Barbara she made a show of actually thinking about it "I've never been to a place where you like to eat most of the takeout I had to give up in the interest of my weight." She smiled widely at him"Fine" he answered he chuckled a little "We'll go to where I like to eat." Nkata walked and asked if they were ready for the interview. Lynley seemed to be thinking "Barbara why don't you interview her first she might warm up to you more, than me." He half believed in this statement he did believe Barbara befriending Lucy would work, but he also simply wanted to watch her, he liked looking at Barbara's ass particularly.

Barbara set the papers down on the interrogation table, she showed her the photos."Lucy are you sure you don't recognize this man?" Lucy scrutinized the photo"No like I said before I don't recognize him." Barbara responded with another question"Lucy you said that even if you knew who Amber truly was you wouldn't likely tell us. Amber was a fugitive named Mary Lewiston" Lucy was getting on the defensive _"She was a good friend_; she helped me through a lot of hard times she was helping me with some things" Lucy drew in breath she had just screwed up, Barbara took advantage of this moment"Lucy, Amber is dead you cared about her it won't help her if you don't tell us what she helped you with. My friend was dealing with a lot of things she didn't tell anyone and she ended up hurting herself and everyone." There was no friend Barbara had made her up but the experiences were true. Lucy seemed to be weighing her options"I got raped by some guy in a pub Lucy found me; she had been helping me gather evidence against him. He found out and he had been sending abusive messages and stuff like that. You should talk to him his name is Andrew Sotsen." Barbara had a puzzled look on her face; CID hadn't found any evidence like that in Mary/Amber's apartment."Is the evidence in your apartment?"Barbara asked. Lucy looked straight at her"No it was stolen from a restaurant we had been meeting at." "Did you report this?" "No their didn't seem to be any point." Barbara stood up and left the interrogation room.

Barbara was bustling around her apartment trying to get her somewhat presentable. Oh God Damn it the task was almost impossible! Finally she got it straight! Now she needed to get out of this gray nightshirt before _he _got to her house. She was searching through her small closet in her bedroom. No dresses Barbara Havers didn't want to look feminine because she was a cop, she needed a though exterior. There were some black pants with a pinstripe pattern and a white dress shirt, these she thought looked good on her. She heard a car pull up the Bristol was outside her apartment. Barbara pulled the grey nightshirt pulled up the pinstripes and buttoned up the dress shirt. She ran quickly down the stairs and opened the door; Lynley was there already he was delicious in a suit. "Are you ready to go Barbara?" he asked smiling smoothly" Yes just let me get my shoes and my wallet." Having retrieved these items, they set off. On the way they talked mostly Barbara needling Lynley and him responding wryly. The restaurant was not as posh as Barbara previously thought. She was staring at as she got out of the Bristol. Lynley came around to the passenger side of the car "Are you ready to go in Barbara?" he held her hand, and guided her towards the restaurant. She looked down and blushed. She was convinced that they must look incredibly hilarious! She knew this was odd outside of procedure and impossible. But there was that little part of Barbara Havers that hoped, that wished that something would happen. She really wanted to enjoy the moment now."Barbara." she quickly snapped her head towards Lynley's voice, "I said you look very pretty tonight." He was smiling deeply, she loved that smile it was a smile he reserved for the far and few occasions. They were standing outside the door of the restaurant "Uh-Oh thank you sir."He smiled again, and opened the door. They were ushered in and seated when they heard Lynley say his name. Once seated things went quickly, drinks were ordered and whatever else, Barbara didn't remember she was too distracted by where she was and who she was with. She liked hearing him talk, it calmed her, and it soothed her fears and worries. She was trying to look up but inevitably ended up staring at her drink, drinks had a weird effect, when she drank her fantasies about Lynley would kick in. She wanted to go home with him to be kissed by him, to be pushed up against a wall by him, to be taken to bed with him, to wake up with him! Uh-oh Barbara's head felt heavy she realized where she was and she realized what she was doing. She was leaning over towards Lynley, he was looking at her too and he knew, she could see the surprise written all over his face. She forced herself to sit down "Sorry Sir, it's nothing just…alcohol does weird things to me." her face was completely red she looked down."Barbara it's okay, it's not a problem I've been thinking about a lot of things since Helen…I think I want to try some things, I think I want to move on a little bit at a time." Barbara looked up then looked away, then feeling the boldness that alcohol gave her she asked "Could we hang out for a bit after dinner?"

Lynley stared straight out into traffic they weren't talking they were still grasping with a realization that neither could have believed. Lynley was sure now when he saw how Barbara had acted at the restaurant. He felt that Barbara shared some of the feelings he had for her. He wanted to look at her but he knew she was embarrassed, upset,..fearful maybe. Barbara didn't like to revel herself to people, he liked to think that he was the one who got to see her as she really was. But now maybe there were things she didn't even tell him. Why was she afraid, proud, maybe not in love with him? It would break Lynley's heart if she wasn't in love with him. He wanted to break the silence to tell her something anything."Barbara I know you don't believe but it's fine, and if you me to drop you off at home now then I will do it" Barbara looked away from the window and looked at him silently for a minute and said quietly "Sir that's not…I'm not worried about it but I don't want to go home yet." Lynley had pulled up to the curb next to his flat. They both looked at the building in silence like by some signal Lynley opened his door and walked to the passenger side Barbara got out and seized the opportunity she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him into a deep kiss. She pulled him close to her body and made him stay by putting her arms around his neck. Lynley was completely intoxicated her breath tasted of the alcohol she had drunk earlier, he damned moving on a little bit at time he wanted Barbara and he wanted her now! He directed Barbara's body towards the front door he unlocked the door and pushed her up against the wall kissing her hard he had her dress shirt off, they had both their shirts off. But then he felt Barbara's cold hands against his naked chest, he stopped kissing her and looked at her face, he could see fear in her face, she look unsure."Sir, were both drunk we shouldn't be doing this it won't work! It can't work, I can't do this now." She took her hands off his chest she picked up both shirts from the floor she handed him her dress shirt and she put on his shirt. "Please don't take me home, I'll just get on a lorry." She left, Lynley did not chase after her he just stood there, he raised Barbara's shirt to his nose and inhaled Barbara.


End file.
